ANNOUNCEMENT OF COMMITTEE INQUIRY: HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE WORKFORCE PLANNING

The Health, Wellbeing and Local Government Committee has agreed to undertake an inquiry into workforce planning for the Health Service and Social Care in Wales and is calling for those with an interest or expertise in this area to submit written evidence. Background In healthcare, the inquiry will look at issues concerning the healthcare workforce in Wales such as shortages of GPs in some areas, levels of nursing vacancies filled by bank and agency staff, training places for junior doctors, and the availability of posts for newly qualified Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) e.g. physiotherapists.  The apparent ‘swings’ in the numbers of trained health professionals leading to surpluses some years and shortages in others will also be considered. The Social care sector employs 70,000 people in Wales, with services provided by the public, voluntary and private sectors.  An ageing population is likely to increase the demand for care services for the foreseeable future.  In the children’s sector concern has been expressed around the shortage of social workers to undertake child protection work.  The inquiry will look at recruitment and retention difficulties for social care staff and the impact of Government policies in these areas. Terms of Reference The Committee has agreed the following terms of reference for the inquiry: To examine the effectiveness of the current arrangements for workforce planning in the health and social care sectors in Wales and to make recommendations about future arrangements, with reference to:

• ·The division of responsibility amongst organisations charged with workforce planning and the mechanisms they use
• ·The availability and quality of intelligence to inform workforce planning
• ·The involvement of all relevant stakeholders in the planning process
• ·Changing patterns of demand (including an ageing population) and service provision in the health and social care sectors, (including reconfiguration of services, use of new technology, new public service delivery arrangements)  
• ·Cross border arrangements with the NHS in England
• ·Changing professional roles and training programmes
• ·Joint working between health and social care agencies
• ·The workforce needs of the public, voluntary and private sectors
• ·The recruitment of a workforce that reflects the diversity of the Welsh communities, including Welsh speaking staff and those from BME group, and general equality issues with particular reference to the retention of staff
• ·Examples of good and innovative practice.”

Interested parties are invited to submit written evidence to the Clerk of the Committee at the address below, to arrive no later than Friday 2 November 2007. If possible, please supply an electronic version in MS Word or Rich Text format, either by e mail to health.wellbeing.localgovt.comm@wales.gsi.gov.uk or on a disk. to Steve George,Clerk to the Committee,Assembly Parliamentary Service,Cardiff Bay, Cardiff, CF99 1NA Further guidance on the submission of evidence Witnesses should be aware that once written evidence has been submitted to the Committee it is treated as the property of the Committee. It is the Committee’s intention to place written papers on its website, and they may subsequently be printed with the report.